How to Break In and Stay In --
Navigating the choppy waters of Harlequin/Silhouette.

Background

My first book came out in 2000 and since then I’ve written for two lines that folded and five editors. Twice I’ve been pretty convinced that my name was circulating the hallowed halls of Harlequin as someone NOT to contract. I’ve rewritten proposals three times and when the phone call came that I thought was going to be a contract I was told the line was done. Contracts trickled in. Advances stayed small. My critique group got so tired of my complaining about my editor that they put a time limit on my whining every week. And about a million times  - a day - I wondered – why in the world am I doing this?

But I am here today with three Superromances coming out in the span of six months. I have a contract for three more. My editor is tough - there is nothing I don’t rewrite but I stopped whining and am now seeing how much better my writing is because of her.

A lot has changed from when I started to now and not just in the company but with me. I took a good hard look at what I wanted and worked hard to get it.

I want to make a career out of writing for Harlequin and I think most of you in the room do too. And frankly, these days getting in is not that different from staying in. - so wether you are published and writing your second book, third, or tenth or if you are sending in your first manuscript I think these tips apply to all of us.

Goal setting

What do you want?

Some people are happy writing a book a year. Some people want to e-publish some don’t. Different strokes for different folks. What do YOU Want.

What are you capable of ? Do you work a full time job? Have a demanding family life? Are you the kind of person who will wake up at 4 am to get some writing done. Be real.

What can you control? 

This is what you can’t control – someone buying your book. You can’t control it.  You are not in charge of this. You can write the best book you are capable of. You can get it in the right editors hands. You can’t control whether they like it. Sorry.

Give yourself three goals for this year

Here are 4 things you can do as a writer to meet those goals

1. GET OVER YOURSELF AND WRITE. FAST.

I know far too many people who spent three years polishing a manuscript and when it sold - champagne - roses - tears - but when the editor asked about a second book - the writer hit a wall.  They either couldn’t write or couldn’t write fast.

The same goes for those people who get a huge revision letter and an invitation to resend -which in this business is like finding a four leaf clover  - and freeze up. Can’t do it. Call it fear. Call it writer’s block - whatever.

GET OVER IT. If you want a career in this business you need to sit down and write and you need to sit down and write faster. Check out SUSAN MALLERY’s workshop on this subject. It’s hard to write fast and to write well - but it can be done. It takes practice and trusting yourself and your instinct. Stop endlessly tweaking, non-stop editing. Just sit down and vomit onto the screen.

2.  TEAR YOURSELF AWAY FROM THE VACUUM.

At least try working with a critique group/partner. A good critique partnership is built on trust. You have to believe they have your best interests at heart. You have to believe they know what they are talking about and more importantly - they have to make you play up. Like a bad tennis player playing a good one — if you are not playing up, rethink the situation.

3. SEEK OUT LIGHTBULB MOMENTS. 

None of us are immune to lightbulb moments. Those things we hear and suddenly we ah ha!

We all have favorite authors that get sloppy one book not so good. We’re still game, we’ll still buy the next book without even looking at the back cover copy. But two books...chances are we’ll stop buying.

We don’t want to be that writer.

Take classes. Challenge yourself. Being on top of my game is something I feel I owe my editor and my readers. Few as they maybe. My mother – she’s tough. I try more and more difficult plot lines. Characters I don’t understand right off the bat.  I take courses, attend conferences to learn. No one is immune to lightbulb moments. Seek them out.

4. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ROMANCE.

A lot of the lines that have folded recently were not romance centered and I really think the average harlequin/silhouette reader is reading for that voracious thrill that we all get from a good romance. Now - does the romance have to be on every page - no. But when it’s on the page  - it had better crackle. It had better be really memorable.

Think of those books on your keep shelf why are they there? Laura Kinsale - couldn’t tell you the plot but I practically know the page numbers of those scenes that sizzle.

WHAT TO DO AS A BUSINESS WOMAN

1. GET INFORMED

 Find out what editors like what kind of story and send your paranormal erotica to the editor that loves that stuff.  That info is out there. On loops on the tapes of national conferences. It’s not a secret but you’ve got to hunt it out. In superromance alone there is a pretty big range of likes and dislikes in story lines among the editors

Also - you’ve heard this before but my editor tells me how amazed she is by how people don’t seem to listen. Read the lines NEW AUTHORS WHO SOLD RECENTLY. Again. That info is out there. Check out the eharlequin boards for help with that.

2. TO AGENT OR NOT TO AGENT.

Now you don’t NEED an agent to write for harlequin — they won’t effect your advance except to take 15 percent of it. And Harlequin does read everything. BUT! I went through five editors in the span of three years.  I was put on the bottom of TBR piles five times. With my current editor I felt awkward and needy. My confidence was so in the gutter I seriously cried. I felt like everyone else was the gatekeeper of my career and I wanted some power back. So I started querying agents. I got one and I was relieved of my three big areas of stress -  One. She believed in me. Liked my work. Said nice things to me. Two. She took over the conversations I hated. Money. Deadlines. Revisions.  Three. She did the pestering.

First time writers don’t need an agent but if you’re line has collapsed etc...perhaps it’s something to consider.

3. PLAY NICE

This is an incredibly PERSONAL business. Be polite. Be courteous - editors for the most part are overworked and underpaid and they do it because they LOVE it. Be part of the reason why they love it.

Criticism may feel sometimes like a personal attack. It’s not. Don’t act like it is. It’s an effort to make you better.

Don’t be an idiot on the loops. It’s one thing to have an opinion, it’s another thing to be a jerk.

4. Do the Revisions. DO them.

The people in this world who tell you that if you love your story you won’t change it. Those people aren’t helping you - stop listening to them. Listen to me. If an editor gives you revisions. Do them.